Beijing, Aug 10: Liu Jianchao, a senior Chinese diplomat heading the foreign relations department of the ruling Communist Party, has been detained for questioning, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday.
The 61-year-old senior diplomat was taken away for questioning in late July after returning to Beijing from an overseas work trip, the paper reported, quoting people familiar with the matter.
There is, however, no official confirmation of his detention yet.
Liu, the Minister of the International Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC), is regarded as the potential future foreign minister and shares close ties with President Xi Jinping.
Liu led a CPC delegation that attended the Liberation Movements Summit in South Africa on July 28, according to the official media here.
The news of Liu’s detention, coming ahead of the upcoming Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) to be held in China’s Tianjin city later this month, sent shock waves across the Chinese official and diplomatic circles.
The summit of the 10-member SCO is scheduled to take place from August 31 to September 1.
As a Minister of the International Department of the CPC, Liu wielded considerable influence over China’s foreign policy, though Wang Yi is the Foreign Minister.
Liu was one of the top officials who External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met during his visit here on July 14 and discussed the progress of the normalisation of the relations after last year’s meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Russia ending the over four year’s freeze in ties due the military standoff in eastern Ladakh.
The official website of the CPC International Department still has Liu’s photos and the statements of his meetings with various international dignitaries.
In 2023, the then-foreign minister Qin Gang was ousted. Qin, too, was regarded as Xi’s protégé. The reasons for Qin’s removal were not made public.
After Qin’s removal, Wang, who is currently a member of the powerful Political Bureau of the CPC and Director of the Office of the Central Commission for Foreign Affairs, was made the Foreign Minister, a post he relinquished to facilitate Qin’s elevation.
Hailing from the Chinese province of Jilin, Liu studied international relations at Oxford University and later joined the Chinese foreign ministry, where he served in various capacities, including as its spokesman.
He also served in CPC’s Central Discipline Commission (CDS), which investigated thousands of officials for corruption and indiscipline since Xi took over as leader of the party in 2012.
The officials indicted by the CDS included two Defence Ministers, besides scores of generals of the Chinese military. (PTI)
